Department of Archaeology
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Staff

Prof Charlotte Roberts, BA (Hons), MA, PhD, SRN

Professor in the Department of Archaeology
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41154
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41154

(email at c.a.roberts@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

I 'classify' myself as a bioarchaeologist. I have a background in archaeology, environmental archaeology and human bioarchaeology. I have studied and interpreted human remains from archaeological sites for the past 25 years, and I am specifically interested in the interaction of people with their environments in the past by exploring patterns of health and disease (and especially those health problems that are common today).

I also try to utilize multiple lines of evidence for reconstructing past health, including exploring the application of medical anthropological approaches to bioarchaeology. Furthermore, I have a strong active interest in the impact of concepts of disease causation on past therapeutic measures.

I have always promoted the need for the contextualisation of biological data for health problems experienced by our ancestors through many of my publications and in my teaching - see my publications below (e.g. Roberts 1991, Roberts and Cox 2003, Roberts and Buikstra 2003, Roberts and Manchester 2005, Roberts 2007, Roberts and Cox 2007).

A State Registered Nurse initially (1975-8), I completed a BA in Archaeological Studies (Leicester - 1979-1982), a MA Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy (Sheffield - 1983), and PhD (bioarchaeology/ palaeopathology/ medical history - Bradford 1988).

My nursing background, particularly, has guided me into taking an holistic approach to past ill health in bioarchaeology, something that was also considered essential in a hospital environment. Understanding why and how people and communities today experience health problems is essential to be able to understand ill health in the past. This includes a consideration of the impact of age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, and social, economic and political status on disease occurrence.

Appointed Lecturer (US equivalent of Assistant Professor) in 1989 and Senior Lecturer in 1994 (US equivalent of Associate Professor) at Bradford University, I moved to Durham University in 2000 to become a Reader, finally being promoted to Professor of Archaeology in 2004 (US equivalent of Full Professor).

In terms of teaching, I have successfully initiated and taught two masters courses (Bradford: MSc Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology 1990-1999, and Durham: MSc Palaeopathology 2000-date), along with undergraduate teaching.

External PhD supervision

I currently sit on two PhD committees of U.S. research students:

Arizona State University
Ohio State University

and I am external supervisor for students at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and at the University of Coimbra, Portugal

Membership of Research Groups and Centres

Bioarchaeology (Archaeology) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/groupings/bioarchaeology/

Centre for Past Peoples and Palaeoenvironments (CP3) - Archaeology - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cp3/

Evolutionary Medicine (Anthropology)

Centre for the History of Medicine and Disease (Philosophy) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/chmd/

Centre for Life and Death Studies (Theology) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cdals/

Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/staff/

Wolfson Research Institute (Durham University) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/wolfson.institute/

Northern Centre for the History of Medicine (Durham/Newcastle Universities) - http://www.nchm.ac.uk/

Outreach (selected public lectures/media)

1998: Channel 4: To the ends of the earth (Chinese mummy documentary)

1998: British Museum Society, London (The Taklamakan Mummies, Xingjiang, China)

1999: BBC2: Meet the Ancestors 2nd Series (1 programme)

1999: Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society (Travels of an anthropologist: from London to China)

2000: Channel 4: Secrets of the dead (Child sacrifice in Sicily)

2000: Channel 4: Secrets of the dead (Syphilis enigma)

2000: BBC2: Meet the ancestors, 4th series (3 programmes)

2001: Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London (Tuberculosis: old disease with new awakenings: evidence from the past)- for National Science Week

2002: Mother and Friends Club, Chester Le Street (Human bones and archaeology)

2004: Café Scientifique, Newcastle (Digging up bones: scientific justification and ethical considerations)

2005: Tullie House Museum, Carlisle (Bodies from archaeological sites: profiling our ancestors)

2006: BBC2 Timewatch (Headless Romans in York)

2006: University of East Anglia, School of Biological Sciences, Bionet (funded by the Society for General Microbiology)– Dead people’s bones do tell tales: an overview of the archaeological study of human remains

2007: BBC2 Timewatch (Gladiator graveyard at Ephesus, Turkey)

2007: Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Society (Cemetery of secrets: decapitated inhumation burials from the Roman cemetery on the Mount, York)

2008: Oriental Museum, Durham (Bones tell tales: the archaeological study of human remains)

2008: British Academy, London: Council for British Archaeology Winter Meeting (Archaeology and Medical Science)

2008: BBC Radio 4 Material World (ancient tuberculosis and NERC Project, with Terry Brown)

2008: Ferryhill History Society: The study of human remains in archaeology

2008: Appleby Archaeological Group: Bioarchaeology: The study of human remains from archaeological sites

2009: worked with the Tubwell Row Museum in Darlington on an exhibition (Everything but the Bear)

2009: worked with York Archaeological Trust on exhibition on Plague, Poverty and Prayer at Barley Hall

2009: Newcastle Antiquaries: Where did people buried in the Bowl-Hole, Bamburgh originate? Some answers and a general overview of developments in recognizing migrations in bioarchaeology

2009: University of Pisa, Italy: The palaeopathology of tuberculosis

2009: Esh Local Interest Group: What can the dead tell us about the past? The study of human remains from archaeological sites

Past research students

The following lists supervision of past research students, funding source and nationality of students (B= at my previous institution, the University of Bradford):

Charlotte Henderson 2009: Musculo-skeletal stress markers in bioarchaeology: Indications of activity levels or human variation? (UK)

Rosa Spencer 2008: Testing hypotheses about the aetiology of DISH using stable isotope analysis and other techniques; Canadian/UK (NERC funded)

Francisca Cardoso 2008: A portrait of gender in two late 19th/early 20th century Portuguese populations: a palaeopathological perspective; Portugal; Fundação Para a Ciência Tecnologia funded

Alvaro Arce 2008 Health in Southern and Eastern England: a perspective on the Early Medieval period - Venuzuela/ Canada

McNaught J 2007 A clinical and archaeological study of Schmorl’s Nodes: using clinical data to understand the past - UK

Groves SE 2006 Spears or ploughshares: multiple indicators of activity related stress and social status in four early Medieval populations from north-east England (AHRC funded) - UK

Caffell AC 2005 Dental caries in Medieval Britain (c. 450-1540): temporal, geographic and contextual patterns (NERC funded) - UK

Jakob T 2004 Prevalence and patterns of disease in early Medieval populations: a comparison of skeletal samples from 5th-8th century AD Britain and Germany (Germany)

Bernard M-C 2003 Tuberculosis: a demographic analysis and social study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington,
Northumberland (Canada)

Montgomery J 2002 Lead and strontium isotope compositions of human dental
tissues as an indicator of ancient exposure and population dynamics; NERC funded (B); UK

Sture J 2002 Biocultural perspectives on birth defects in late Medieval rural and urban populations in Northern England; AHRC funded; UK

Santos AL 2000 A skeletal picture of tuberculosis. Macroscopic, radiological, biomolecular and historical evidence from the Coimbra Identified Collection; Fundação Para a Ciência Tecnologia; Portugal (external supervision)

Keeping D 2000 Life and death in English nunneries: a biocultural study of variations in the health of women during the later Medieval period, 1066-1540; Commonwealth Foundation; Canada

Freeth C 1999 Dental health in biocultural perspective; UK (B)

Lewis M 1999 The impact of urbanization: an assessment of morbidity and mortality in British non-adult populations; University of Bradford funded; UK (B)

Margerison B 1997 A comparison of the palaeodemography of catastrophic and
attritional cemeteries; SERC funded; UK (B)

Dalby G 1994 Middle ear disease in antiquity; UK (B)

Recent conferences

2009

Theoretical Archaeology Group Annual Conference, Durham University. Invited paper in session on ‘Caring for the dead: changing attitudes to curation’. Archaeological human remains and laboratories: attaining acceptable standards for curating skeletal remains for teaching and research

Society for the Study of Human Biology Meeting, Durham University (Predicting the future: Mortui viventes docent (the dead teach the living). Keynote lecture

22nd European Congress of Pathology, Florence, Italy (Air quality in the past reflected in the bioarchaeological record: a study of skeletal remains from archaeological sites)

Appropriating the Past: the uses and abuses of cultural heritage (Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage, Durham University) - Ethics and archaeological human remains in England:perspectives on the excavation, analysis, curation and display of human remains

Workshop on musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM): limitations and achievements in the reconstruction of past activity patterns, Coimbra, Portugal. Invited annotator ('Musculoskeletal markers: perspectives over 25 years in bioarchaeology')

Annual Meetings of the Paleopathology Association and American Association of Physical Anthropology, Chicago: Two posters in Poster Symposium: Reconstructing health and disease in Europe: the early Middle Ages through the Industrial Period (Contextual dimensions of health and lifestyle: the archaeological and historical record, with R. Jankauskas, and ‘Understanding the impact of infectious disease on European populations: contributions from the Global History of Health project’ with Tracy Betsinger), co-author on 11 other posters, and symposium co-organiser with Rick Steckel, Clark Larsen, and Phil Walker

Invited discussant for session on: interpersonal aggression and violence in prehistory: palaeoepidemiological perspectives and methods,

Co-author of paper: New dimensions to an old method: using micro-CT to navigate to areas of interest for bone histological observations (Von Hunnius, Holdsworth, Umoh, Santos, Saunders, Roberts)

Society of Anthropology of Paris 150th International Congress (Invited keynote speaker: 'Adaptation of populations to changing environments: bioarchaeological perspectives on health for the past, present and future')

2008

Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada (Invited Discussant for session on 'A global perspective on human remains: convergence or diversity in approaches?')

Archaeology and Medical Science, CBA Winter General Meeting 2008, British Academy, London (‘Human bones in archaeology do tell tales, but how do we find them out?)

Paleopathology Association European Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark ('Strontium isotope analysis of the people buried at the Bowl-Hole cemetery, Bamburgh, Northumberland: a preliminary study of burial context and health of locals and non-locals', and co-organised a symposium on the History of Palaeopathology with Jane Buikstra of Arizona State University)

Wellcome Trust, London (Frontiers in Bioarchaeology): Ill health in the past: prospects for the future

2007

History of Health in Europe: late Palaeolithic to the present, Athens, Greece (‘Selection of sites’)

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Philadelphia (‘Health and welfare in a late Anglo-Saxon community at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland’)

Durham University Archaeology Department 50th Anniversary Conference ('Dead people’s bones do tell tales: Durham’s contributions’)

International Medieval Congress, Leeds
('Living and dying in Bernicia: the Bowl Hole Burial Ground, Bamburgh’)

British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology 9th Annual Conference, University of Reading (‘Diet, disease and death at the Bowl Hole: an early medieval cemetery in Bamburgh, Northumberland’)

Public enemy No. 1: TB since 1800, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (invited): ‘The white plague: perspectives on the bioarchaeology of tuberculosis’

2nd South American Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Santiago, Chile (‘Toothache at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland: dental disease of people buried at an Anglo-Saxon site in north-east England’; ‘Leprosy: the impact of the present on understanding the past’)

Fifty years of Medieval archaeology, Society of Antiquaries, London (invited):‘ Health and welfare in medieval England: the human remains contextualised’

Research Students

I was given one of Durham University's 'Excellence in Doctoral Supervision' Awards in 2009

I currently supervise the following research students:

Zahra Afshar (The study of dental disease in the Iron Age population of Northern Iran for Dietary reconstruction); Iranian

Karen Bernofsky (Bioarchaeological study of respiratory disease in Britain); Canadian

Marta Diaz-Zorita Bonilla (Reconstructing social structure through bioarchaeological analysis); Spanish; funded by the Government of Anadalucia

Marieke Gernay (Study of human remains in Belgium); Belgium

Jaime Jennings (Conflict in the Borders of England and its impact on late medieval populations); U.S.

Kirsty McCarrison (Osteological and biomolecular study of prehistoric tuberculosis in Britain); UK; NERC funded

Julie Peacock (Disability and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Britain: AD 1066-AD 1800); UK; AHRC funded

Paola Ponce (Patterns of activity related pathology in Amerindians from South America); Argentinian; Durham Doctoral Award funded

Kimberley Plomp (Quantifying palaeopathology: developing objective geometric morphometric methods for recording pathological conditions in human skeletal remains); Canadian; Durham Interdisciplinary Award - with Anthropology

Jennifer Sharman (Testing age and sex estimation methods on known documented skeletal collections from Portugal, England and Canada); Canadian/UK

Ashley Tallyn (A study of the health of monks' and nuns' health using multiple lines of evidence); U.S.

Research Groups

Research Projects

Research Interests

  • Bioarchaeological approaches to the history of disease and medicine worldwide and any period, especially infectious disease
  • Bioarchaeology, or the integration of biological with archaeological data to study past human populations through their skeletal remains
  • The application of biomolecular techniques to answer archaeological questions
  • The history of the infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis and leprosy

Teaching Areas

  • History of medicine (Philosophy) (1 hours/year.)
  • Human osteology (Human Sciences, Stockton) (1 hours/year.)
  • MSc Palaeopathology: Anatomy and osteology
  • MSc Palaeopathology: Methods and practice in palaeopathology
  • MSc Palaeopathology: Research and study skills in archaeological science
  • MSc Palaeopathology: Themes in palaeopathology

Indicators of Esteem

  • 2010: President of the Paleopathology Association: Elected President for 2011-2013
  • 2009: 22nd European Congress of Pathology, Florence, Italy: Invited speaker for session on palaeopathology
  • 2009: 3rd Jubilee International Congress of the Society of Anthropology of Paris: January 2009: Invited Keynote Speaker
  • 2009: Society for the Study of Human Biology Meeting, Durham University: Invited keynote lecture
  • 2009: Workshop on musculoskeletal markers, Coimbra, Portugal: Invited chair and discussant
  • 2009: York Bones Forum, York: Invited contriubutor on infectious disease
  • 2008: Wellcome Trust Frontiers in Bioarchaeology Meeting: Invited lecture:
  • 2007: AHRC Peer Review College: Member of peer review college (to 2010). The Peer Review College initially reviews grant applications.
  • 2007: Natural History Museum Workshop 2008: Invited to be part of Natural History Museum (London) Workshop
  • 2007: Peer review: I regularly peer review papers and grant applications for many national and international journals and grant giving bodies
  • 2007: Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver 2008: Invited discussant for Bioarchaeology symposium at SAA Conference
  • 2007: Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (Durham/Newcastle): Part of successful bid for Northern centre for the History of Medicine and Disease
  • 2006: DCMS: Member of the Human Remains Advisory Service: Invited to be a member of the Human Remains Advisory Service for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
  • 2005: Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship 2006-8: Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship 2006-8. Highly competitive competition; over 200 applications with around 25 awards
  • 2005: NERC Peer Review College: Member of the NERC Peer Review College. The Peer Review College comprises a group of academics who initially review grant applications for NERC, and also contribute to the decision making process through committee service. 2006-8
  • 2005: Paleopathology Association 1st South American Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: invited keynote speaker: I was invited to give the one of three keynote lectures: 'Ecology and human health: the effects of indoor and outdoor living environments, and climate on past health'
  • 2004: Associate Editor for American Journal of Physical Anthropology: Invited to be Associate Editor for American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Top journal in my field with high impact factor
  • 2004: Editorial Board for Homo: Invited to be on the Editorial Board for Homo
  • 2004: Editorial Board for International Journal of Osteoarchaeology: Invited to be on the Editorial Board for International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
  • 2003: Editorial Board for Journal of Archaeological Science: Invited to be on the Editorial Board for Journal of Archaeological Science
  • 2003: Science, not art: 10 Scientists' diaries: Invited, through the Royal Society, to be part of this publication by the Calouste Gulbenkian Trust
  • 2003: Vice-President of the Paleopathology Association: Voted as Vice-President of the Paleopathology Association 2003-2005. United States based organisation that represents the global field of palaeopathology
  • 2001: Global History of Health: UK coordinator: Global History of Health. Invited to be UK coordinator. An Ohio State University based and NSF funded project tracing health through time, specifically in Europe

Selected Publications

Books: authored

Books: edited

  • Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Manchester, K. 2002. The past and present of leprosy. Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases 3 (ICEPID), University of Bradford, 26th-31st July 1999. British Archaeological Reports. International Series. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Books: reviews

  • Roberts, C.A. 2008. Book review of The Churchyard. Wharram: a Study of Settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, XI by S. Mays, C. Harding, C. Heighway. York University Archaeological Publications, Vol. 13, York, 2007). Journal of Archaeological Science 35(7): 2083-2084. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2008. Book Review. Medieval Archaeology 126: 428-430.
  • Roberts, C.A. 2006. Book review of ‘Backbone of history. Health and nutrition in the Western Hemisphere’ edited by JC Rose and RH Steckel, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Social History of Medicine 19(2): 345-346. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2005. Book review of C. Greenblatt and M. Spigelman (eds): Emerging pathogens. Archaeology, ecology and evolution of infectious disease, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. American Journal of Archaeology 109(3): 572-573. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2001. Book review of 'The Tarim Mummies Ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the West' by J. P. Mallory & Victor H. Mair, London Thames & Hudson, 2000. International Journal of Heritage Studies 7(1): 102-103. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T. A. 2000. 'Digging for pathogens. Ancient emerging diseases: Their evolutionary, anthropological and archaeological context' Book review of 'Digging for pathogens' edited by C.L. Greenblatt, Rehovot, Israel: Balaban Publishers, 1998. American Journal Physical Anthropology 112(2): 288-290. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2000. Book review of 'The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology' by A. Aufderheide and C. Rodriguez Martin, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Medical History 44(1): 121-123. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 1999. Book review of The archaeology of human bones by S. Mays. J. Archaeological Science 26: 1235-1238.
  • Roberts, C.A. 1995. Book review of Counting the Dead. The epidemiology of skeletal populations by T. Waldron. J. Human Evolution 29: 194-197.

Books: sections

  • Roberts, C.A. 2008. Commentary I: Understanding health: past and present. In Health, risk and adversity. Panter-Brick, C. & Fuentes A. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. Volume 2, Studies of the Biosocial Society.: 13-25. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2008. Health, healing and disease. In Encylopedia of Archaeology. Pearsall, D. New York: Academic Press. 1417-1426. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. 2008. The history of tuberculosis from earliest times to the development of drugs. In Clinical tuberculosis. Davies, P.D.O., Barnes, P.F. & Gordon, S.B. London: Hodder Arnold. 3-19. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2007. Medical science and archaeology. In Discovery! Unearthing the new treasures of archaeology. Fagan, B. London: Thames and Hudson. 234-237. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. 2007. The evidence for tuberculosis in the Eastern Mediterranean:past and current research and future prospects. In Diachronic patterns in the biology and health status of human populations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Faerman, M., Horwitz, L.K., Kahana, T. & Zilberman, U. Oxford: Archaeopress. 1603: 213-227.
  • Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M. 2007. The impact of economic intensification and social complexity on human health in Britain from 6000 BP (Neolithic) and the introduction of farming to the mid-nineteenth century AD. In Ancient health:skeletal indicators of agricultural and economic intensification. Cohen, M.N. & Crane-Kramer, G. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. 149-163. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2006. A view from afar. Bioarchaeology in Britain. In Bioarchaeology. The contextual analysis of human remains. Buikstra, J.E. & Beck, L.A. Amsterdam Boston: Elsevier. 417-439. (Additional information)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M. 2006. The Human Population: Health and Disease. In A companion to Roman Britain. Todd, M. Oxford: Blackwell. 242-272. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A., Lagia, A., Triantaphyllou, S., Bourbou, C. & Tsaliki, A. 2005. Health and disease in Greece: past, present and future. In Health in antiquity. King, H. London: Routledge. 32-58. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C A 2004. General medicine. In The 70 Great Inventions of the Ancient World. Fagan, B. London: Thames & Hudson. 225-260. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C A & Connell, B 2004. Guidance on recording palaeopathology. In Guidlines to the standards for recording human skeletal remains. Brickley, M. & McKinley, J.I. Southampton and Reading: British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology and Institute of Field Archaeologists. IFA Paper No: 7: 34-39. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. 2003. History of tuberculosis from the earliest times to the introduction of drug therapy. In Clinical tuberculosis. Davies, P. D. O. London: Edward Arnold. 3-20. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Lewis, M.E. 2002. Ecology and infectious disease in Britain from prehistory to the present: the case of respiratory infection. In Ecological aspects of past human settlements in Europe. Bennike, P., Bodzsar, E. & Susanne, C. Budapest: Eotvos University Press. 179-192. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2002. Palaeopathology and archaeology: the current state of play. In The archaeology of medicine. Arnott, R. Oxford: Archaeopress. 1-20.
  • Roberts, C.A. 2000. Did they take sugar:the use of skeletal evidence in the study of disability in past populations. In Madness, disability and social exclusion. The archaeology and anthropology of difference. Hubert, J. London: Routledge. 46-59.
  • Roberts, C.A. 2000. Infectious disease in biocultural perspective. Past, present and future work in Britain. In Infectious disease in biocultural perspective. Past, present and future work in Britain. Cox, M. & Mays, S. London: Greenwich Medical Media. 145-162. (Additional information)
  • Roberts, C. 2000. Trauma in biocultural perspective: past, present and future work in Britain. In Human osteology in archaeology and forensic science. Cox, M. & Mays, S. London: Greenwich Medical Media. 337-356. (Additional information)
  • Roberts, C.A. 1999. Rib lesions and tuberculosis: the state of play. In Tuberculosis. Past and Present. Palfi, G. Dutour, O. Deak, J. & Hutas, I. Budapest and Szeged: TB Foundation and Golden Book Publisher Ltd. 311-322.
  • Roberts C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Boocock, P. 1998. Infectious disease, sex and gender: the complexity of it all. In Sex and gender in paleopathological perspective. Grauer, A. & Stuart-Macadam, P. Cambridge: University Press. 93-113. (Additional information)
  • Roberts, C.A. 1994. Treponematosis in Gloucester, England: a theoretical and practical approach to the pre-Columbian theory. In L'origine de la syphilis en Europe. Avant ou apres 1493?. Dutour, O. Palfi, G. & Brun J-P. Toulon, France.: Centre Archeologique du Var, Editions Errance. 101-108.

Conference contributions

  • Redfern, R. & Roberts, C.A. 2005, Health in Romano-British urban communities: reflections from the cemeteries, Association for Environmental Archaeology Symposium: Papers in honour of Susan Limbrey. Birmingham, England, Oxbow, Oxford, 115-129. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & McKinley, J. 2003, A review of trepanations in British antiquity focusing on funerary context to explain their occurrence, in Arnott, R., Finger, S. & Smith, C.U.M. eds, Trepanation. History, discovery, theory. International Colloquium on cranial trepanation in human history. Birmingham University, Swets and Zeitlinger, Lisse, 55-78. (Additional information)
  • Schultz, M. & Roberts, C.A. 2002, Diagnosis of leprosy from an English later Medieval leprosy hospital using histological analysis, in Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Manchester, K. eds, British Archaeological Reports International Series 1054: The past and present of leprosy. Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches. Proceedings of the International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases 3 (ICEPID). Bradford University, Archaeopress, Oxford, 89-110. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2002, The antiquity of leprosy in Britain: The skeletal evidence, in Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Manchester, K. eds, British Archaeological Reports International Series 1054: The past and present of leprosy. Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches. International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases 3 (ICEPID), 26th-31st July 1999. Bradford University, Archaeopress, Oxford, 213-222. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2002, Tuberculosis:a multidisciplinary approach to past and current concepts, causes and treatment of this infectious disease, in Baker, P. A. & Carr, G. eds, Practitioners, practices and patients. New approaches to medical archaeology and anthropology. Magdalene College, Cambridge University, Oxbow, Oxford, 30-46. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2001, Health and disease in past British populations, prehistory to the later Medieval period: some perspectives on the evidence and its problems, in Schultz, M. eds, 4th Kongress der Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie. Potsdam, Germany, Cuvillier Verlag, Gottingen, 414-422. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Janaway, R.C., Wilson, A.S., Caffell, A.C. & Roberts, C.A. 2001, Human skeletal collections: the responsibilities of project managers, physical anthropologists and conservators, and the need for standardized condition assessment, in Williams, E. eds, 934: Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress, Oxford, 199-208. (View publication online)
  • Caffell, A.C., Roberts, C.A., Janaway, R.C. & Wilson, A.S. 2001, Pressures on osteological collections: the importance of damage limitation, in Williams, E. eds, 934: Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress, Oxford, 187-197. (View publication online)

Edited works: journals

  • Roberts, C.A. 2007. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. Special Volume (Symposium in Honour of Aidan and Eve Cockburn, Durham University, 2004). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 17 Wiley.

Essays in edited volumes

  • Roberts, CA. 2009. Health and welfare in medieval England: the human skeletal remains contextualised. In Reflections:50 years of medieval archaeology 1957-2007. Gilchrist, R. & Reynolds, A. Leeds: Maney Publishers. 307-325. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2009. Health and welfare: lessons from the past. In Thinking about almost everything new ideas to light up minds. Amin, A. & O'Neill, M. London.: Profile Books Ltd. (Additional information) (View publication online)

Journal papers: academic

  • Wilbur, AK., Bouwman, AS., Stone, AC. Roberts, CA., Pfister, L. Buikstra, JE. & Brown, TA. 2009. Deficiencies and challenges in the study of ancient tuberculosis DNA. J Archaeological Science 36(9): 1990-1997. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, CA., Pfister, L. & Mays, S. 2009. Letter to the editor. Was tuberculosis present in Homo erectus in Turkey? American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(3): 442-444. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Stone, AC. Wilbur, AK. Buikstra, JE. & Roberts, CA. 2009. Mycobacterial disease in perspective. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 52: 66-94.
  • Redman, J.E., Shaw, M.J., Mallet, A.I., Santos, A.L., Roberts, C.A., Gernaey, A.M. & Minnikin, D.E. 2009. Mycocerosic acid biomarkers for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in the Coimbra skeletal collection. Tuberculosis 89(4): 267-277. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Park, V., Roberts, CA. & Jakob, T. 2009. Palaeopathology in Britain: a critical analysis of publications with the aim of exploring recent trends (1997-2006). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 19(Forthcoming): 11. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Jurmain, R. & Roberts, C.A. 2008. Juggling the evidence: the purported 'acrobat' from Tell Brak. Antiquity 82(318). (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Ingham, S. 2008. Using ancient DNA analysis in palaeopathology: a critical analysis of published papers with recommendations for future work. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 18(6): 600-613. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2007. A bioarchaeological study of maxillary sinusitis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133(2): 792-807. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A., Powell, M.L. & Buikstra, J.E. 2007. Preface. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 17(4): 327-336. (View publication online)
  • Santos, A.L. & Roberts, C.A. 2006. Anatomy of a serial killer: differential diagnosis of tuberculosis based on rib lesions of adult individuals from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection,Portugal. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130(1): 38-49. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Djuric, M.P., Roberts, C.A. , Rakocevic, Z.B., Djonic, D.D. & Lesic, A. 2006. Fractures in late Medieval skeletal populations from Serbia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130(2): 167-178. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Von Hunnius, T., Roberts, C.A., Saunders S. & Boylston, A. 2006. Histological identification of syphilis in pre-Columbian England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 129(4): 559-566. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Montgomery, J., Evans, J., Powlesland, D. & Roberts, C.A. 2005. Continuity or colonization in Anglo-Saxon England? Isotope evidence for mobility, subsistence practice, and status at West Heslerton. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 126(2): 123-138. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Millard, A.R., Roberts, C.A. & Hughes, S.S. 2005. Isotopic evidence for migration in Medieval England: the potential for tracking the introduction of disease. Society, Biology and Human Affairs 70: 9-13. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C. A., Knusel, C. & Race, L. 2004. A foot deformity from a Romano-British cemetery at Gloucester, England and the current evidence for Talipes in palaeopathology. International Journal for Osteoarchaeology 14(5): 389-403. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Budd P, Millard A, Chenery C, Lucy S & Roberts C 2004. Investigating population movement by stable isotope analysis: a report from Britain. Antiquity 78(299): 127-141. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Groves, S., Roberts, C.A., Johnstone, C., Hall, R. & Dobney, K. 2003. A high status burial from Ripon Cathedral, North Yorkshire, England: differential diagnosis of a chest deformity. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13(6): 358-368. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Byers, S. & Roberts, C.A. 2003. Bayes' theorem in palaeopathological diagnosis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121(1): 1-9. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2003. Bees in my bonnet:reflections on biological anthropology in the UK. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 16(2): 96-116. (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. 2002. Tuberculosis in Britain: its history and palaeoepidemiology. Antropologia Portuguesa 19: 101-119. (View publication online)
  • Santos, A.L. & Roberts, C.A. 2001. A picture of tuberculosis in young Portuguese people in the early 20th century: A multidisciplinary study of the skeletal and historical evidence. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 115(1): 38-49. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Roberts, C.A. & Grauer, A.L. 2001. Commentary: Bones, bodies and representivity in the archaeological record. International Journal of Epidemiology 30(1): 109-110. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Dixon, R. & Roberts, C.A. 2001. Modern and ancient scourges:the application of ancient DNA to the analysis of tuberculosis and leprosy from archaeologically derived human remains. Ancient Biomolecules 3(3): 181-193. (Additional information)
  • Gernaey, A., Minnikin, D., Copley, M., Dixon, R., Middleton, J. & Roberts, C.A. 2001. Mycolic acids and ancient DNA confirm an osteological diagnosis of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 81(4): 259-265. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Djuric-Srejic, M. & Roberts, C.A. 2001. Palaeopathological evidence of infectious disease in skeletal populations from later medieval Serbia. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11(5): 311-320. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Boylston, A., Knusel, C., Roberts, C.A. & Dawson, M. 2000. Investigation of a Romano-British rural ritual in Bedford, England. Journal of Archaeological Science 27(3): 241-254. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Judd, M. & Roberts, C.A. 1999. Fracture trauma in a Medieval British farming village. Amer.J.Phys.Anthrop 109: 229-243.
  • Ackroyd, R.G., Lucy, D. Pollard, A.M. & Roberts, C.A. 1999. Nasty, brutish, but not necessarily short. A reconsideration of the statistical methods used to calculate age at death from adult human and dental age indicators. American Antiquity 64: 55-70.
  • Judd, M.A. & Roberts, C.A. 1998. Fracture patterns at the Medieval leper hospital in Chichester. American J.Phys.Anthrop 105: 43-55.
  • Roberts, C.A., Boylston, A., Buckley, L., Chamberlain, A. & Murphy, E. 1998. Rib lesions and tuberculosis: the palaeopathological evidence. Tubercle and Lung Disease 79: 55-60.
  • Ribot, I. & Roberts, C.A. 1996. A study of non-specific stress indicators and skeletal growth in two Medieval subadult populations. J. Archaeological Science 23: 67-79.
  • Grauer, A. & Roberts, C. A. 1996. Palaeoepidemiology, healing and possible treatment of trauma in the Medieval cemetery population of St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 100: 531-544.
  • Knusel, C., Roberts, C. & Boylston, A. 1996. When Adam delved.An occupational pathology in three human skeletal populations. American J.Phys.Anthrop 100: 427-434.
  • Lewis, M., Roberts, C.A. & Manchester, K. 1995. A comparative study of the prevalence of maxillary sinusitis in Medieval urban and rural populations in Northern England. American J.Phys.Anthrop 98: 497-506.
  • Boocock, P., Roberts, C. & Manchester, K. 1995. Maxillary sinusitis in Medieval Chichester. American J.Phys.Anthrop 98: 483-495.
  • Roberts, C., Lucy, D. & Manchester, K. 1994. Inflammatory lesions of ribs: an analysis of the Terry Collection. American J.Phys.Anthrop 95: 169-182.

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Grants Awarded and Grant Applications

  • 2009: Leverhulme Trust: Health and diet in ancient Nubia through political and climate change (Co-I with Neal Spencer, British Museum); £52,066 for tied studentship at Durham plus FEC costs as Co-I
  • 2008: British Aacdemy (Indigenous or incomers. A mobility study of people with pre-Columbian venereal syphilis at Hull Magistrates Court) - PI with Co-Is Dr Andrew Millard and Professor Graham Pearson (£2765)
  • 2008: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Programme - six dates for Bamburgh Castle Project)
  • 2008: Royal Society Conference Grant (Paleopathology Association European Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark)
  • 2007: Natural Environmental Research Council (Biomolecular archaeology of tuberculosis in ancient Britain and Europe) - PI with Terry Brown, Manchester University (£175,491 to Durham for tied PhD studentship and postdoctoral research associate)
  • 2006: $5000 Institute of Bioarchaeology
  • 2005: $5000 Institute of Bioarchaeology
  • 2005: Arts and Humanities Research Council (The Bamburgh Bowl-Hole Anglian cemetery: a contextual study) - PI with Co-Is Sam Lucy and Graham Pearson
  • 2005: British Academy/Royal Society Conference Support (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)
  • 2005: Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship £64,000 plus teaching replacement costs
  • 2004: $5000 Institute of Bioarchaeology for hosting Paleopathology Association European Meeting, Durham
  • 2004: $7500 Institute of Bioarchaeology
  • 2004: British Academy/Royal Society Conference Support (Tampa, Florida, USA)
  • 2003: Wellcome Trust. £750 (supervisor for Birmingham University PhD student)
  • 2002: £2100 Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Programme - six dates for syphilis project
  • 2002: British Academy Conference Support (Coimbra, Portugal)
  • 2001: £1246 Wellcome Trust for Seminar Series (with Holger Maehle)
  • 2001: Natural Environmental Research Council (Direct evaluation of archaeological immigration, population dynamics and lead exposure by isotope biogeochemistry) - Co-I with Andrew Millard and Sam Lucy (£216,281)
  • 2000: $4000 Institute of Bioarchaeology
  • 2000: £1050 Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Programme - six dates (with Piers Mitchell)
  • 2000: British Academy Conference Support (Chieti, Italy)
  • 2000: Leverhulme Trust (Living and dying in post-medieval Manchester: a skeletal and historical study ) - Co-I with Andrew Millard (£14,566)
  • 2000: Royal Society Conference Support (San Antonio, Texas)
  • 1999: $5000 Institute of Bioarchaeology for Leprosy Congress, Bradford University)
  • 1999: £1500 British Academy (for Leprosy Congress, Bradford University)
  • 1999: £3000 Wellcome Trust (for Leprosy Congress, Bradford University)
  • 1998: Sponsor for a Wenner Gren Developing Countries Training Fellowship for Indian researcher (Bradford University)
  • 1996: Nuffield Foundation One Year Science Research Fellowship (Bradford University)
  • 1996: Nuffield Foundation One Year Science Research Fellowship (Bradford University)
  • 1996: Royal Society Conference Support (Durham, North Carolina, USA)
  • 1995: British Academy Conference Support (Oakland, California, USA)
  • 1995: Royal Society and Indian National Science Academy exploratory research visit to Deccan College, Pune, India (Bradford University)
  • 1994: £6600 Natural Environmental Research Council extension grant (maxillary sinusitis research) - PI (Bradford University)
  • 1994: British Academy/Royal Society Conference Support (Denver, Colorado, USA)
  • 1994: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Programme - nine dates (syphilis) - Bradford University
  • 1993: British Academy Conference Support (Toronto, Canada)
  • 1993: Science and Engineering Research Council (maxillary sinusitis in urban and rural medieval populations) (£29,000) - PI (Bradford University)
  • 1992: British Academy Conference Support (Las Vegas, USA)
  • 1991: £9000 Royal Society (Equipment Fund) - Bradford University
  • 1990: British Academy/Royal Society Conference Support (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

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